This edition of the newsletter is the first in a series of three issues
which will provide extensive data concerning the villages being
researched by the bunch.

BURGENLAND, AUSTRIA- TOWNS & VILLAGES (with a few
Hungarian border villages)
The following are Burgenland localities being researched for
genealogical purposes by members of the Burgenland Bunch as of
March 1997. A few Hungarian towns have been included because
of family ties generated by their close proximity. The data comes
from various sources, but is not conclusive as many of the towns
have ancient and lengthy histories. These articles encompass only a
small percentage of all Burgenland localities. There are many more.
Postal and telephone area codes and demographics are as of the
period 1993-94. Much of the material has been translated from
German or Hungarian sources, in which languages the author is not
perfect. Errors are possible and exact shadings of language may be
missing. A source bibliography is at the end of the last article. Data
of an historical or genealogical nature has been considered more
important than physical descriptions. Corrections or additions are
welcome. Hungarian equivalent village names follow the German
names currently in use (German and Hungarian diacritical marks
follow the letters they modify). Latter Day Saint (LDS) microfilm
record reference numbers, church first than civil are the last entry
for each village. They have been taken from the latest LDS Locality
Index. If there is no church or municipal office, a reference may be
made as to where such is located. There is more data concerning
the villages south of Oberwart only because the author has more
source material covering this region.

DEFINITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS
The numbers following the village name are (1) telephone area code
(Kennzahl) and (2) postal code, (Postlietzahl). Omission means
data was not available to the author. Market community means the
village is a "Marktgemeinde". School means Volksschule. District
implies "Bezirk". The Bezirk is the largest Burgenland governmental
administrative segment (after the Province itself), i. e. Eisenstadt,
Mattersburg, Oberpullendorf, Gu"ssing, Jennersdorf, Neusiedl and
Oberwart are "Bezirks" and administer certain governmental
functions for the villages within their jurisdiction. Next segment of
lesser administrative importance is the "Katastralgemeinde" (land
registry) which would have a municipal office (Gemeindeamt or
Standesamt). That is where vital records are kept although some
may be at the "Bezirk" office.

If a village is shown as combined with another (i. e. Poppendorf
with Heiligenkreuz), it means they share a municipal office and
records would be found at the office of the village (generally the
larger) with which it is combined. These combinations changed over
the years and are still changing, although many stem from
Hungarian times. If you can't find a civil record in today's municipal
office, try the next nearest town.

Noble family names are listed because their archives are still extant
and may contain the names of their serfs. One common record
would be the register of serf labor (robot) which was required
through 1848. This was a record of labor due and served. It was
possible to buy exemption; this would be another record. I've never
seen any, since noble family holdings have not been made public,
but they have been referenced and mentioned in other works
(scholarly publications). Some former robot families have also kept
their copies of service; there are some shown in a History of
Apetlon that I have. For our purpose, the Burgenland can be
divided into two feudal parts. The Esterhazys (beginning in 1626)
would have controlled huge portions of upper Burgenland (N of
Oberwart), the Batthyanys (later Draskovich) lower Burgenland
(from 1526). If a village is in the Bezirk of Gu"ssing or Jennersdorf,
it was controlled by the Batthyanys. There were some Erdody family
holdings in the Sopron area, but most of the northern Bezirk
villages were controlled by the Esterhazys. The aristocracy would
almost never marry out of their class (there were at least two
Hapsburg exceptions) although they would exercise their feudal
rights. It is useless to search for aristocratic links to peasant or
small property holding families.

Bu"rgermeister names are included for possible genealogical
linkage, being indicative of family names in the area. Given names
and birth and death dates of Bu"rgermeisters are available from the
author if you suspect a link. Family names being researched have
not been included; to see them, consult the Burgenland Bunch list
or our Homepage.

BILDEIN (Ober & Unter); (Beled, Also & Felso) 0 33 23; 7521-
District of Gu"ssing. S. NE of Gu"ssing, few kms NE of Eberau. 4
kms to the W of Hungarian border. In the "Pinkaboden". Pop. 180.
Combined with Eberau, Gaas, Kroatisch Ehrensdorf, Kulm. Had
been independent. Was in the District of Szombathely pre 1919.
Catholic church in Unterbildein was also attended by residents of
Oberbildein. Emigration began in 1901and included families from
nearby villages of Harmisch, Winten, Deutsch Schu"tzen, Eberau
and Ho"ll. Most went to NY and Passaic, NJ. LDS 0700645.

DOBERSDORF; (Dobrafalva) see RUDERSDORF. Went to church in
Ko"nigsdorf (RC) and Eltendorf(AG). Early emigrant, Josef Leitgeb,
to Allentown, PA 1896.

EDLITZ; (Abdalo"cz); 0 33 65; 7474-District of Oberwart. On route
56, just N of Eberau, 6km from the Hungarian border. Part of
Deutsch Schu"tzen-Eisenberg which also includes Ho"ll, St.
Kathrein. Went to church in St Kathrein (RC).

Bu"rgermeister names from 1921, Tapler, Gaal, Hallemann, Leitgeb,
Gamler, Flamisch, Peischl, Mirth. About 200 emigrants from 1890
period to Allentown, PA. First emigrants in 1890 Johann and
Mathias Duld. Mentioned in records as early as AD1428 as
"Elekfalva". Burned during the Bocskay Rebellion (1608).
Aristocratic family, Batthyany. LDS 0700737-9 (Lutheran;
Catholics attended church in Heiligenkreuz); 0700435-9.

FELSO RONOK, Hungary (Ober-Radling)-In Vas Megye (county),
District of Szt. Gotthard; on the E66 (Hung. Rt. 8), 8 km east of
the Heiligenkreuz international border crossing. LDS 0601492-4
(RC). Lutherans went to church in Eltendorf. Second Hungarian
village east of the border crossing.

GU"SSING; (Ne'metjuva'r); 0 33 22; 7540-Bezirk.Stadt (city). S, at
the junction of routes 56 & 57. North of Szt. Gotthard, Hungary.
Pop. 4300, houses 1995. All facilities. District & municipal offices.
Castle Gu"ssing (12th Century) museum. German colonists as early
as AD1150. Croatian colonists AD 1500's. Aristocratic Batthyany
and Draskovich family crypts. Franciscan cloister. Draskovich
Schloss. Birthplace of Burgenland poet Josef Reichl. Immigrant
museum. Catholic church (Maria Heimsuchung). Parish church of
St. Jakob with cemetery, (12th Century). In 1635, the inner city
had 42 houses. Among the family names were 26 Hungarian, 7
German and 6 Croatian. The outer city (Langzahl and Rosenberg)
had 88 houses. Family names included 48 Hungarian, 17 German
and 5 Croatian. The outer city now includes the communities of
Krottendorf, St. Nikolaus (Miklos), Glasing, Steingraben,
Urbersdorf, Rosenberg, and Langzahl. Bu"rgermeister names from
1921, Salvachrist, Fischl, Artinger, Vestner, Potzmann, Krammer,
Po"lz, Schwarz, Matschnigg, Glaser, Mazgan, Holper. Center of
emigration to the US. Had as many as 8 shipping company travel
agents to serve emigrants. First emigrant was Alois Sorger to
Allentown in 1901. LDS 0700699-701; 0700420-8; surrounding
area 0700429-430. Jewish, 0700702.

RETURNING BURGENLAND IMMIGRANTS
We know some Burgenland emigrants returned from the US. We
don't know how many although estimates run as high as 25%. It
was not unlikely that some made the trip a number of times. In the
earlier years, 1890-1910, there were seasonal workers who went
to the US, worked during the constuction season, or whatever and
returned in the winter. With steamship fare at $14 and a trip of
under 10 days, this was not too difficult. Others worked in the US
for a few years, saved their money and returned to buy property or
set up in business. My Berghold grandfather did this, marrying and
having children in the US and then taking his new family back to
Poppendorf, only to come back to the US a few years later. For
some time I was puzzled by birth and marriage entries in
Burgenland civil records which relect localities in the US.

They often show US towns like "Catasauqua, Allentown,
Northampton, Coplay or Pittsburgh, PA, Nord Amerika". They're
frequently dated post 1900 and show a notary entry date, and an
earlier event date, like "10 Jan. 1909, 2 May 1907, birth of so and
so". At first I thought these were entries sent to the Burgenland for
inclusion in local civil records by immigrants who weren't sure about
remaining in the US. I'm now fairly certain that they are entries for
immigrants who returned and had their US birth and marriage (as
well as family death) data entered into local records. I invariably
find records both in the US and in Burgenland in these cases. LDS
film 0700570-573 for Strem and 0700420-430 for Gu"ssing
include records of this type. These repeat trips also solve the puzzle
of US Census immigration dates which don't seem to agree with
family oral history.

BURGENLAND UBI'S (Useful Bits of Information)
o Hungary experienced very poor grain harvests during 1895-98. In
addition, a swine pest epidemic ruined the export of pork and pork
products, a large moneymaker for Hungarian farmers. This was in
addition to the already ruinous effect of the world wide phylloxera
epidemic (caused by a North American plant louse) which was
destroying vinyards. The resultant economic conditions contributed
to the large numbers of emigrants in the next two decades.
(economic data from "The Habsburg Monarchy as a Customs
Union", Komlos, 1983.)

o Austro-Hungarian Government Edicts carried the seal or
signature"KuK", (pronounced "Kah ou Kah"), abbreviation for Kaiser
und Ko"nig (Emperor and King). This stemmed from Francis Joseph
von Hapsburg being Emperor of Austria (1848) and also King of
Hungary (1867). The Austrian Empire included at times, present
day Austria (ex Burgenland), plus what later became
Czechoslovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, the Italian Tyrol and Venezia and a
few more bits and pieces of Central Europe, plus Hungary which
was defined as the Kingdom of the Crown of St. Stephen and
included present day Hungary plus Burgenland, Croatia,
Transylvania, some of Romania, Russia and Bulgaria and some other
pieces of the Balkans. The holdings changed frequently with the
political climate and is indicative of the trouble genealogists have
today in defining their ancestors' homeland. If you see "KuK", on
any of your source documents you're probably in the right ballpark,
but could be in the wrong section and the wrong seat.